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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Martin Domin

Michael Conlan and Leigh Wood reunited after brutal KO left challenger in hospital

Michael Conlan has been reunited with his conqueror Leigh Wood following their brutal world title fight last night.

Conlan was knocked out in stunning style in the final round of the featherweight clash in Nottingham.

The Irish challenger was immediately taken to hospital but was later released having been given the all-clear.

And he caught up with Wood who made a successful first defence of the belt he won last summer.

The pair had a brief chat before posing for photos and going their separate ways.

Conlan was up on all the judges’ scorecards heading into the final three minutes but a bruising right hand led to him sagging against the ropes before going through them after his opponent followed up with a furious flurry.

Referee Steve Gray was unable to intercept Conlan in time to prevent a fall to the hard floor and Wood’s emotional celebrations at retaining his WBA featherweight title became muted as his rival was attended to by medics.

It was a worrying end to a fight-of-the-year contender, with Conlan led out of Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena on a stretcher and taken to hospital before he issued a reassuring update on his condition in the early hours of Sunday morning.

"I’m all good, I’m just getting checked up in the hospital. The CT scan is all clear," he said.

“Congrats to Leigh Wood, congrats to his team, that was the best shot of the night he got me with at the end. But it is what it is, I’ll be back."

He added on Twitter : “Definitely want a rematch."

Wood will now target a fight at Nottingham Forest's City Ground, likely against either the winner of Josh Warrington's rematch with Kiko Martinez or Leo Santa Cruz.

"A very small percentage of the fans here would have been at my debut at Clifton Leisure Centre, there were more people at the weigh in than there was at my professional debut," said Wood.

"It has been some journey and I wasn’t prepared to roll over, not one bit. There are some massive fights ahead, it’s not over yet. This is my peak, I’m not finished."

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